Versailles falls to 0-3 after 40-16 loss to Warsaw

Warsaw, Mo. – Last season the Versailles Tigers came up short with a 44-43 loss to Warsaw at home.

This year, the Versailles Tigers continue their search for the first win of the season after taking a tough 40-16 loss at the hands of the undefeated Warsaw Wildcats on Friday night.

Warsaw's quarterbacks Jeremy Eierman and Michael Maybee combined for 210 yards passing, two touchdown passes and three touchdowns rushing Friday night in the Warsaw Wildcats' 40-16 win over Versailles in the Tri-County Conference football game.

Maybee passed for 108 and one touchdown, and he had one TD rushing.

The Wildcats opened up the game by forcing a punt from the Tigers before throwing a 63-yard touchdown pass to take the lead.

Later on in the first quarter, the Wildcats would block a punt, which would pan out into a passing touchdown for the Wildcats. A second quarter drive allowed Warsaw to force their way in to the end zone with a rushing touchdown.

While the scoreboard showed a 40-16 win, the things that Versailles' coach Broc Silvers saw from his team were marks of improvement.

Warsaw's offense has put up big numbers through the air this season, but Versailles' Kaden Wilson allowed just one catch to his man on the night, while Kyler Turpin held the talented Bailey Jelinek to just three catches. The defense held the quarterbacks to 210 yards through the air, forcing the Wildcats to beat them on the ground.

Offensively, the Tigers had trouble finding a rhythm, failing to complete a pass in the first half, but the team's only turnover came on an interception late in the game when Michael Allen forced a throw, which Coach Silvers said that his quaterback wasn't left with much of a choice on the play.

Versailles' only points came late in the game, with a 19-yard reverse to Kyler Turpin for a touchdown late in the third, followed up with a two-point conversion on a scramble form Allen, and a 4th quarter pass for 52 yards and a touchdown from Allen to Dodge Anderson.

Versailles' last two points of the game came on the conversion after the second touchdown, as Allen found Turpin in the end zone with a bullet to convert for two.

Defensively, the Tigers allowed 192 rushing yards in the game on 45 carries, along with 218 passing yards on 29 attempts. Of those 29 attempts, however, only 11 were completed.

"The defense did what they were supposed to do," Coach Silvers said. "We gave up two touchdowns on big plays, and they scored 14 on us from special teams plays. We did a better job of protecting the ball, and only had one turnover from the offense. We're cleaning up our playing, and we're only going to keep getting better."